Beer is good; good beer is better

Tuesday night’s a good night in our neighborhood because down at the Sixth Street Bar & Grill, draft beers are just $2. (OK, a Guinness is $2.50, but still … ) Recently, I took an outdoor table with neighbor and beer lover Steve Mack to talk about the blog. We had 20 beers to choose from. I ordered a Harp; he had Stella Artois.

“Once you’ve had good beer, you can’t go back,” Steve told me. The problem with so many big-name beers, is that they’re “made by accountants and chemical engineers.”

From there, it didn’t take long to find a good topic to kick off the blog: the lack of brew pubs in Houston.

In 1995, when I moved into the Rice Village, there was a brew pub across the street from my apartment. Out on Richmond, the Houston Brewery and the Rock Bottom Brewery were both in business. They’re all gone now, as is another little brewery in the Village, the Bank Draft.

In fact, the only brew pub operating in Houston right now is the chain Two Rows, also in the Village. Great as it is, our Saint Arnold Brewery, by law, is not a place where you can buy a beer and watch a ball game. From the brewery’s FAQs:

Can I buy beer directly from the brewery?

Sorry, Texas alcohol laws prohibit us from selling beer directly to the public. But, there are grocery stores and liquor stores across the whole state who proudly serve Saint Arnold beers and root beer!

But Texas law isn’t the only issue. Check out the Brewpub Finder. It shows Austin having six active brew pubs. Fewer than a million people live in all of Travis County; we’ve got more than that in our suburbs. More than 2 million of us are packed inside the city limits.

So how can there not be a market here for fine craft beers? If anything, as the local beer blog allgoodbeer.com points out, the market is expanding.

Although the increase from last year was not as large as past increases, it occurred while the economy was spiraling downward and craft beer prices were increasing. An indication that consumers are continuing to choose quality over quantity. Hopefully that trend will continue despite the rather dismal economic outlook for this year. Fortunately, most hops have had a significant drop in price recently, which will lower costs and help smaller breweries ride out any downturn in the craft beer market.

24 Responses

One possibility is the fear many thoughtful people have of having to drive in Houston’s traffic after drinking even a small amount of alcohol. Even if you feel you’re in full control of your faculties, there’s always the possibility of some yahoo running into you, whereupon law enforcement may well look upon your baited breath with suspicion. An extremely uncomfortable predicament at best.

I’ve been following the craft brewery scene here in Houston since before they were legalized. There are perfectly good reasons why the failure rate is so high: some had bad locations, bad food, bad management, occasionally bad beer (although as a rule, it’s been better here than more successful brewpubs in other states), ill-conceived “Bennigan’s-With-A-Brewery” theme pubs, etc. A lot of people jumped on board the brewpub train during the boom days for the wrong reasons. Many of these, if not most, would have also closed in other, more beer-friendly states. However, I can tell you that by the time the state legislature legalized brew-pubs in Texas in 1993, there were a multitude of good beer bars already well-established in this city. Texas was something like the 44th state in the country to allow brew-pubs, and only after a number of failed attempts by many of us in previous legislative sessions. The obstacle was always the big, bad beer wholesalers that didn’t want to allow any competition whatsoever. They were able to keep brewpubs out of this state for a number of years, and when it became apparent that a bill was going to go through the legislature, they made sure that it was as restrictive as possible. This is why in Texas, a craft brewer is either a shipping brewery like St. Arnold’s (basically a nano version of Bud/Miller/Coors), or you’re a brewpub. Shipping brewers cannot retail beer and brewpubs cannot distribute beer to be retailed elsewhere. This is why you cannot buy a case of beer at St. Arnold’s after the tour on Saturdays nor can you buy Two Row’s beers anywhere but at the brewpub. A number of brewpubs that have closed would have likely made it had they been able to sell kegs to other retail outlets. It would have provided some more badly needed cash flow for these establishments. The irony is that Texas has bent over backward to accommodate small wineries, but treat breweries like Jonahs. My two cents worth, anyway. –

While weather and traffic may be a part of it, lots of great beers drink well in the summer (I prefer IPA’s while sweating, and keeps the bugs away); and traffic is why neighborhood watering holes are popular. The difference between Austin and Houston could be 1)The view that Austin supports small businesses while Houston is more of a big business city, perceivably 2) the different populations of the cities, working professionals vs. College students, career college students, and pretend college students or 3) More Houstonians are having families, making starting a smaller business such as a brewpub an unacceptable risk, vs. A DINK household with no dependents that can more easily take a risk.

Whatever it is, I hope we can see no less then 2-3 brewpubs inside the loop in the next 18 months. Rice Village is likely too expensive for one to survive, so the Shepherd/Rice Military/Heights area ought to spring one up soon. If I could get investors, I’d open one up myself!

Pub ownners can do just as well serving awesome American craft beer without all of that overhead.

For example, take Petrol Station at 985 Wakefield, 77018. The place always has 14 American craft beers on tap and is always busy (people drink during recessions). Why would the owner ever want to do a brewpub?

I agree with the traffic as a main reason why brewpubs are few and far between. Heck, I live in Galveston County and while I love craft beer I cannot drive into Harris County for a buzz! Alas, I get my Guinness at one of many Molly’s Pubs.

Great Blog. Although I must say you stole my idea;). Kidding, I couldn’t have done it. As far as brewpubs go, I agree with much of what my friend Mr. Birdwell has posted. I owe much of my 13 year career at Saint Arnold to him, and a few others who had the courage and wisdom to get craft beer and homebrewing movement going in Houston long before it was popular. Thanks Scott (and you too Brock)! I have too much fun doing what I do, to call it work. On that note Ronnie, if you want to see what a day in life of a craft beer salesman is like, shoot me an email, and show up thirsty! I look forward to many great posts! As for the rest of you, now go and drink a good beer, or try making one at home. It’s fun and easy! Cheers!

“One possibility is the fear many thoughtful people have of having to drive in Houston’s traffic after drinking even a small amount of alcohol. Even if you feel you’re in full control of your faculties, there’s always the possibility of some yahoo running into you, whereupon law enforcement may well look upon your baited breath with suspicion. An extremely uncomfortable predicament at best.”

Unlikely. I think it’s a cultural prevalance leaning toward big brewery products like Miller Lite and Bud Light. I personally love brew pubs and miss the ones on Richmond – Two Rows is OK, but not a favorite of mine. Texas’ restrictive alcohol marketing laws also limit the chances for success for local brew pubs. It would be great to be able to buy a local pub brew you like at Spec’s.

Many of the 90’s brew pubs had the same problems. The beer was NOT that good and the operators and many of their clients were beer snobs. They insisted we were lesser if we did not want a hot, syrupy beer on a hot August day.

Rule one, sell what the customer wants, don’t tell them they are stupid for not accepting your mediocrity.

Brew pubs MUST brew a “light” lager for general consuption. It can be done right and an example is Lawn Mower from St. Arnolds.

I would love to have good brew pubs – they are great and everywhere throughout the western states. Just don’t try to sell me a warm can of tar on a hot, muggy night.

First, I want to say that there is nothing wrong drinking a Budweiser or Miller. These are good pilsner beers and the breweries are very good at what they do. It has nothing to do with quantity over quality but instead the way the beer must be brewed. Pilsners are a bottom fermenting beer unlike ales that are top fermenting, they must also be maintained at a much cooler temperature(below 70), and must have as little temperature variation as possible. Pilsners are a very light flavored beer and very difficult to cover up any flaws or taste variations. Whereas an ales heavier and stronger flavors make it easy to mask minor flaws in the beer. But this is neither here nor there and I say drink what you enjoy.

As for why there are so few brewpubs in Houston. I think it is due to several reasons. First, brewpubs are very expensive to start and very expensive to maintain. These brewpubs are only brewing enough beer to serve their customers and not buying ingredients in large enough quantities to effectively reduce their costs. If every side of the brewpub, the beer, the food, and the staff are not on par then it is very easy for them to fail. Second, is that Houstonians are by large a commuter society. Many of us live outside the downtown areas and commute to and from work. So when we choose to want to go out for a simple enjoyment such as beer and a little pub food we by large tend not want to travel very far from our homes. Finally and perhaps most importantly is we are currently seeing a boom in the microbrewery industry right now. There are more microbreweries today then ever before and their beers are turning up in our local neighborhood pubs, bars, and grocery stores. Places like The Flying Saucer and Boondoggles serve large varieties of these beers. Brewpubs were great when they were needed because these beers did not exist but sadly with the number of microbreweries around today and their availability brewpubs are no longer needed like they were.

Brewpubs were great when they were needed because these beers did not exist but sadly with the number of microbreweries around today and their availability brewpubs are no longer needed like they were.

Posted by: Matthew at March 3, 2009 03:11 AM

I totally agree.

Plus, most local pubs sell 64oz “growlers” to go so you can enjoy fresh tap microbrew at home! Nothing beats a growler of Gordon for $12.

The challenges of a Texas brewpub are evident, but the author was asking why does Austin have 6 while Houston has 1. Sure Houston is larger and more spread out, but any given area is as densely populated as urban Austin. Traffic in Austin is just as bad for most people here. Why are they attracting brewpub entrepreneurs there, but Houston is opening new wine bars and high end restauraunts? Lots of great bars here, and I agree the variety of beers at a place like gingermans reduces the NEED for a brewpub, but it will never reduce the want of a brewpub by craft beer lovers.

Hell, even the city of Fredericksburg can support an awesome brewpub! A good number could thrive in the Houston area, and people should step up soon. Otherwise maybe I’ll stay in Houston and give one a try in 10 years when I can afford the risk!

Matthew is confusing a true pilsner, such as Pilsner Urquell from the Czech Republic, Bitburger or Koenig Pils from Germany, or Austin’s own Live Oak Pils with pale adjunct lagers such as those made by A-B, Coors, and Miller. While both are pale-colored lagers, these two beer styles are not otherwise not very comparable.

I agree with Craig. Bud and Miller are not “good pilsners” as Matthew suggests. If judged against a good pilsner one would have to conclude that Bud is defective.Also, I wouldn’t describe a pilsner as having to be “very light flavored”. Although it might push the style limits somewhat, go to Spec’s and get some Prima Pils. I certainly wouldn’t describe Prima as very light flavored.

I don’t think I would agree that Bud & Miller are “defective” pilsners. They are what they are: American-style pilsners – light-bodied, low bitterness, pale yellow lagers. Personally, I just find them boring is all. I don’t particularly enjoy sweet stouts, either, but that doesn’t mean I think they’re defective. They’re just not my cup of tea, er, beer. I wouldn’t compare Bud & Miller to Prima Pils, Pilsner Urquell, Czechvar, Koenigs Pilsner, etc. It would be like throwing in a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale up against a bunch of barleywines. Nice beer, but not nearly as intense as the barleywines. (Not that there is anything wrong with SNPA!). – The other question is regarding brewpubs in Houston, not with comparable cities in other more beer-friendly states, but with Austin. Austin has heat, and, yes, traffic jams, yet they have supported brewpubs better than we have. Part of the reason is that IMHO Austin has had more interesting, less corporate brewpubs. Austin is a younger city than Houston in terms of demographics. It is more compact, sprawl-wise. Live music venues thrive there. It’s just different. Waterloo & Bitter End were simply more interesting than any brewpubs we’ve had in Houston. And, yet, they’re gone, not so much because they weren’t supported, but more to commercial development (hmmm? Sounds like Houston). The Draught House, Lovejoys, & Uncle Billy’s are also more on target than anything Houston has had to offer, and they’re still in business. I liked the Houston Brewery (hated the location), the Village Brewery (funky layout all the way around), Bradley’s (when Phil Endacott was brewing there), etc. But there were good reasons for all of them to fail. Then there were (to name more than a few): Huey’s, Rock Bottom, Market Square, Mercantile, Bay Brewery, Side Street, Brew U, Hops House, BJ’s, Boondoggle’s, Hoffbrau, plus The Strand Brewery and Galveston down south. There were good reasons for them to go down, too (but not necessarily the same reasons). The big loss there was the Bay Brewery. It was way cool, but there were feuding partners (too many partners), some of which were complaining about the lack of income from the brewery part. Duh, they were running over 90% capacity. Do your homeworks, boys and girls! Sorry, I’m ranting here. Just waiting for someone to come into the area with a well-conceived, well-executed brew-pub. I think they will make a killing. Maybe then we’ll see other players willing to get back into the game. My two cents worth. – Scott Birdwell

Scott, I think you missed my point. I said “If judged against a good pilsner one would have to conclude that Bud is defective” and I stand by that. Corn should not be a dominant flavor in a pilsner.Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the term in vogue for beers like Bud and Miller is American Style Lager.

My point is that one shouldn’t consider Bud & Miller to be a “pilsner” at all. Just a domestic light lager. And, this is the reason you shouldn’t judge them against all-malt, more highly hopped true pilsner-style beers. It’s not fair. You wouldn’t judge Shiner Bock against Doppelspaten, so why judge Budmillercoors against Pilsner Urquell? BTW Bud has no corn in it all. It’s contains about 30% rice.

Scott, that is exactly my point. I was referring to the post that said Bud and Miller “are good pilsner beers”–they are not good pilsner beers, they aren’t even pilsners. That was my point. Judging Miller against Jever would be like judging Shiner Bock against Celebrator. Also, I didn’t mean to imply Bud tasted like corn–Miller sure does though (and so does Shiner Bock).